


How a Baker Met a Merman

by akurtbastiantoholdonto



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M, Merman Kurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 02:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2174850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akurtbastiantoholdonto/pseuds/akurtbastiantoholdonto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>for an otpprompts prompt: Imagine person B of your OTP is a mermaid/man and is discovered by person A. Person B,having never been to the surface world is asking Person A about all the strange things they see and Person A having to explain it all to them. (Bonus: Person B tries to take off Person A’s shirt or pants to see how they work/what it is.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	How a Baker Met a Merman

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for almost drowning/anxiety at the beginning.

Adam Crawford scrambled among the rocks, searching the crevices and sandy holes with his eyes. He had been walking home from work the day before, breathing in the coastal air, when he thought he heard someone singing. Looking down, he saw something move, and a splash followed shortly after. The dark made it hard to clearly see anything, and he had vowed to come back the next day to search.

So far, the search hadn’t revealed anything, but as he crawled down a rocky ledge, closer to the pounding ocean waves, he felt with his feet where the rock face opened up. He climbed down around it, until he was able to see that the hole was large enough for him to comfortably stand in, and several meters wide. He entered it, searching the walls for signs of whoever or whatever might have been there.

Crossing a small creek in the cave that he thought must fill up during high tide, he walked back further into the cave. It went on for about a hundred meters, slowly getting smaller. He reached a place where it would be a tight fit, and turning sideways he attempted to make it through, as beyond the crevice a larger area seemed to appear. He sucked his breath in, grateful that he had kept his breakfast that morning light, and took a step into the narrow entrance. He took a few sideways steps, slowly making progress.

He began to feel hopeful, that maybe he would find whatever it was that had been singing the night before. He smiled at the thought, but it quickly turned to a frown. “Bloody hell.” He muttered, trying to take a step to either side, unable to move. He had gotten stuck, and idiotically, he thought, didn’t tell anyone where he would be.

He tried to stay calm. If he had gotten there in the first place he could surely get out, but after several attempts at pulling free, he gave up. He was utterly and entirely trapped. He sighed, grateful at least that he could breathe, but as the minutes grew long, he realized that being able to breath wouldn’t help him if the tide came in and filled the cave with water.

Panicked, he tried to move again, but the only thing that happened was a sharp rock cutting through his shirt into his stomach, and Adam could feel the blood soak the front of his shirt around the wound. He cursed under his breath, snorting that he now knew the meaning of ‘caught between a rock and a hard place.’

His legs got tired as he stood there, hours must have passed, he thought, as the sun at the opening of the cave seemed higher in the sky. He knew that the tide would be coming in soon, filling the cave, and he had to find a way out. He wished he had thought to bring his phone, his caution about not wanting to lose it on the rocks could cause him to lose his life, he realized.

More time passed. The tide began to come in, slowly filling the floor of the cave inch by inch. The water trickled down the small previously empty stream, running over Adam’s toes. This isn’t going to be good, he thought, trying to move again. The rock dug into his stomach again and he stopped. He wasn’t sure if he could get out without cutting his stomach further. He didn’t want to die like this. The water was at his knees now, rising quickly. Slowly it crept to his stomach, some of the water swirled red around his wound.

He started panicking now, terrified. As he looked towards the entrance though, he saw a fin pierce the top of the water, slowly making its way down the cave towards the shaking man. Adam began to scream, hoping that maybe someone would hear him, or maybe that it would scare the shark away.  He didn’t think that sharks haunted this coast, but the fin swimming towards him seemed to prove otherwise. He struggled to get further down the crevice, hoping to escape, but he realized that doing so only further trapped him, leaving him to face death either by being mauled by a shark, or drowned in the filling cave.

The fin was only a few feet away, and Adam, in a small state of calm, wondered if it was a baby shark, the fin seemed smaller than he would have thought it to be, and it wasn’t gray, but a pale blue. The water bubbled in front of the fin, and a head appeared above the water, followed by the arms and torso of a young man.

“What the hell?” Adam exclaimed, unsure what was happening in front of him.

“Are you stuck?” The man asked, his torso floating above the water, as he looked at Adam concerned.

Adam nodded. “I can’t get out.” He said. “The rocks are too tight.”

“Let me see what I can do.” The man said, smoothly ducking under the water, and Adam soon felt hands pull at his shirt, and it seemed that the man was inspecting the wound and the rock that caused it. He came up again and spoke. “I can get you out, but it is going to hurt, unfortunately I can’t get you out without the rock hurting you more.”

“Believe me that is okay.” Adam said frantically, not wanting to die.  The man nodded and held out his hands.

“Give me your arm.” Adam complied and the man pulled hard. Adam cried out as the rock cut deeper, but suddenly he was free, the tide pulling at his legs. “You okay now?” The man asked, the water pushing them up closer to the ceiling.

“I’m not sure I am strong enough to get out, I bled a lot.” Adam admitted.

“Alright, here, I’ll get you to shore.” The man drug Adam out of the cave and into the windy ocean, letting the current take them to a small beach near the cave, high enough to escape the rising tide. Adam was barely conscious, the stress, pain and blood loss finally affecting him, but for a few seconds, he wondered how the man was able to swim, without using his arms. Before he could consider this more, the man had set him down on the sandy beach, where he promptly passed out.

Hours later, Adam blinked his eyes open, rolling over to feel a warmth coming from nearby. He turned his head and a fire was blazing several feet away. Disoriented, Adam wondered how he got there, but slowly he remembered the man who had saved him. Remembering his stomach he reached down to press his hand against it, feeling a bandage there.

“You shouldn’t mess with that.” A voice said.

Adam craned his head back, and saw the man who had rescued him. He was sitting a few yards away in a pool of water. Adam struggled to his feet, watching the man as the man watched him back.

“If you move too much you’ll tear out the stitches.” The man said, the water around him moving in semi-circle waves.

“Stitches?” Adam asked, moving closer.

“Yes, I had to do something, you were losing a lot blood.” He said.

Adam reached the edge of the pool and look down. “What, what’s that?” He asked, pointing to the clear water, taking a step back.

“What do you mean?” He asked, following the direction of Adam’s finger. “Oh, it’s just my tail. I know it looks different than most Mer-people’s, but I promise it isn’t infected or anything.” He said, swimming towards Adam.

Adam stepped back again, and his back met a rough rock wall. “You’re-, you’re a mermaid?”

“Merman, but yes.” The merman answered. “And you’re a land crawler.”

“Land crawler?” Adam asked. “I’m human.”

“Well, you are also a land crawler. I’m Kurt, by the way.” He said.

“Um, hi Kurt, I’m Adam.” Adam replied, slightly stunned. He was exchanging pleasantries with an, until now, mythical creature. Adam sat down against the rock face. “I’m sorry, I’m having a hard time with this, I almost die and now I’m talking to someone, something that shouldn’t exist. I’m really confused.”

“Well, I think a good place to start is with a thank you.” Kurt said, grinning.

“What? Oh, yeah, thank you for saving me, and fixing me up.” Adam said, returning the grin.

“No problem. I have always wondered what you land crawlers are like. Most of the time when we see your people you are spearing whales or dumping oil everywhere. Let me tell you, that spill a while back? It killed a lot of my friends. Took forever to get it out of my hair and scales as well.” Kurt said. “But I guess that isn’t directly your fault, unless you were there. You weren’t, where you?”

“No, I own a bakery in the town over there.” He said, motioning in the direction of the small town.

“What is a ‘bakery’?” Kurt asked, resting his chin on his folded arms, looking up at Adam.

“It’s a place where I make food for people, mostly bread-“He paused. “Though I guess you wouldn’t know what that was, huh?”

“No, not really.” Kurt admitted.

“I think you should tell me about your life then. We can alternate who asks questions.” Adam suggested, moving closer to the fire.

“Sure. What do you want to know?”

“Where do you live?”

“Oh, well, it depends, I normally sleep in that cave that you were in, near the top there is a slightly larger opening I can swim though, and I can sleep there safely. There is a funnel that comes from the below that I can exit from if the tide goes out. There is a ‘mer-town’ I guess, a few miles out, but most live by themselves until they marry or have kids.” Kurt said. He rolled his head to the side to stretch, revealing a row of gills alongside his neck. “So, what are those strange things that race along the cliff edges up there? That make a lot of noise?”

Adam paused. “Oh, you mean cars? They allow us to go from one place to another much faster than walking. We sit inside them.”

“That sounds dangerous.” Kurt said, eyes wide.

“Yeah, it can be.” Adam said. “I don’t have one, I just walk. Uh, why is your tail different?”

Kurt looked up. “I don’t know. It has always looked more like a shark’s than the normal fishes. There are lots of kinds of Mer-people, but not really any shark ones. People look at me weird sometimes, but it also allows me to swim around sharks safely, they are too confused to attack! Why are you here?” Kurt asked.

“You brought me here…” Adam replied.

“No, I mean, why did you get stuck, what brought you here?” Kurt clarified.

“Oh, I saw something down here and heard singing yesterday when I was walking home from work, and so I wanted to check out what caused it.” Adam said. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that would you?”

“Well, I was here last night.” Kurt blushed.

“Oh, really? You sing?” Adam prompted.

“Yes, um, mer-songs are different, since they usually are sang underwater, but sometimes people come to the beach and play their music, so I learn it that way.” Kurt said. “I can sing a few songs, I don’t know many though.”

Adam was intrigued. “Fascinating, we have movies with mermaids that sing, but they sing in English.”

“What is a movie?” Kurt asked.

“It’s something people watch for fun, a kind of art I guess.” Adam said, not quite in the mood to explain the intricacies of film making.

“Hmm, here for fun we sing a lot, some of the mermaids make jewelry out of shells, which I really like.” He reached his arm down to his waist, pulling up a pouch. He took a blue shell on a leathery strip and handed it to Adam. “One of my friends made me this, she said it went with my tail.” He said smiling.

“This is really great!” Adam complimented. “She did a good job, and she isn’t wrong.”

“Thanks.” Kurt said. He took the necklace and hung it around his neck. “Maybe she can make one for you.”

“What?” Adam asked.

“Maybe she can make one for you, I mean, I would like to see you again.” Kurt said, hopeful.

“I would like that too.” Adam said. “I can come by tomorrow, will you be here?”

“I think I can make it.” Kurt grinned. “Do you want to meet here around noon?”

Adam nodded.

“Great! I have to go now though.” Kurt said, using his arms to lift himself over the lip of the pool, onto the sand.

“Are you trying to get to the ocean?” Adam asked. He wasn’t going to complain about watching Kurt’s muscles work, but he felt bad that Kurt had to drag himself down the sand to the ocean.

“Yeah, I don’t mind.” Kurt said.

“Here, let me help you.” Adam said. He began to bend over to pick Kurt up from the sand.

“But you’re hurt!” Kurt said, worried.

“I think I will be okay. It is the least I can do for the person who saved my life.” He said, smiling.

“Oh, okay.” Kurt lifted his arms to wrap around Adam’s neck as he was lifted up. Adam carried him down the sandy stretch of land a few feet, when he felt Kurt’s hands work at the collar of his shirt.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

Kurt stopped what he was doing and looked over guiltily. “I was looking to see if you had gills.”

Adam grinned. “I’m afraid I don’t have any.”

“How do you breathe when you swim then?” Kurt asked, concerned.

“I just have to hold my breath, which only lasts a few minutes. I can use an oxygen tank if I really need to.”

“Strange.” Kurt muttered. “I guess we can’t spend much time together in my world huh?”

“Unfortunately not right now, but I can get an oxygen mask if you want to show me things.”

Kurt looked excited. “I hope you can! That would be so cool.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Adam said, gently placing Kurt into the shallow water. Kurt positioned himself on his stomach, his head resting on his hands, elbows in the sand. His tail back and forth, rippling the water slowly.

Adam knelt down, crossing his legs as he sat down, the water barely touching his slightly damp pants. “Tomorrow?” He asked, leaning forward.

Kurt smiled softly. He lifted himself up onto his hands, leaning forward until his face was only inches away from Adam’s. After giving Adam a few seconds to object, he pressed their lips together in a gentle kiss.

Kurt pulled away, his smile lighting up his whole face.

“What was that for?” Adam asked, his hand caressing the back of Kurt’s head.

“It’s for tomorrow.” Kurt said.

Kurt waved goodbye and slid into the water. Adam watched his fin, the only visible part of him, cut through the waves towards the setting sun.

 


End file.
